Ellen Holly, the ONE LIFE TO LIVE legend who broke new ground as the first Black leading lady in soaps, passed away on December 5 at the age of 92. The sad news came via a Facebook post from her cousin, Grant Shipp, who wrote, “She was a pioneer in day time television …. You had One Life to Live and it was amazing Life.”
A New York City native, Holly was born on January 16, 1931 and first made her mark in theater; a life member of The Actors Studio, she appeared on Broadway (Tiger, Tiger Burning Bright and A Hand Is on the Gate) and had notched several TV credits (SAM BENEDICT, THE NURSES) before landing her signature role, Carla Gray, who was born Clara Gray, but originally known to viewers as Carla Benari, on OLTL.
Holly’s character, and the storyline she anchored, was a critical jumping-off point for OLTL Creator Agnes Nixon when she first dreamed up the show. She told Soap Opera Digest in 2012, “The most important story to me was Clara/Carla, played by Ellen Holly, the African-American woman of light pigmentation who was an actress and could not get a job [until she passed for white].” This was an issue with which Holly had real-life experience; indeed, in 1968, she wrote an essay on racial bias in casting called “How Black Do You Have To Be?” that was published in The New York Times. (Click here to see Holly discussing the article.)
Nixon was inspired to craft Carla’s tale, she explained, because she had “grown up in the South seeing the horrors of racism … That story, to me, of all the stories I’ve ever done, was the one nearest to my heart, because as a child, I would sit on the bus in Nashville, TN, and see distinguished Black grown-ups walk past me to stand in the back of the bus, and I was outraged for them, even as a child. It was so wrong. I had hoped that this story was a way for people to examine their prejudices, and many did, I’m sure. But of course, not the diehard racists.
“For five months, the audience thought Carla was white,” Nixon continued. “She fell in love with Price Trainor, who was a Black resident [at the hospital], and people were outraged. The reveal of Carla’s true identity was a landmark moment in OLTL’s early history and came via Carla’s first on-screen encounter with her mother, Sadie, played by Lillian Hayman, who was the head of housekeeping at Llanview’s hospital. In a shocking Friday cliffhanger, Carla laid eyes on Sadie and exclaimed, “Mama!” Nixon shared with Digest, “I remember the following scenes, explaining to the audience in very dramatic scenes with Sadie and Clara/Carla. Sadie felt that Clara had betrayed her race, and Carla said, ‘I couldn’t get a job!’ and, ‘What are you talking about?’ … For those who had ears to her and brains to understand, I think we explained [why the character’s desperation had prompted her to pass for white].”
As the story progressed, Carla confessed her true heritage to Jim, a white doctor, who proposed marriage; the tale of an interracial relationship was considered so controversial that, for a time, a station in Lubbox, TX even refused to air OLTL. In time, Clara ended things with Jim and embraced her identity as a Black woman. She went on to marry Ed Hall, played by Al Freeman, Jr. The couple adopted young Joshua, played by Laurence Fishburne, but their marriage ended in divorce and Carla tied the knot with Dr. Jack Scott, played by Arthur Burghardt. Holly, along with Burghardt, was featured on the October 1979 cover of Ebony magazine after their on-screen wedding attracted an audience of eight million viewers.
Holly left the show in 1980 and returned in 1983; Carla came back to Llanview with a law degree and became an assistant district attorney. She also reunited with Ed. Holly exited OLTL again, and for the final time, in 1985. She returned to daytime in the late 1980s to play the recurring role of Judge Collier, last appearing in 1993. Her final television appearance was in 2002, playing the part of Selena Frey in 10,000 BLACK MEN NAMED GEORGE.
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Holly as Carla early in her OLTL run.
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The 1973 nuptials of Ed (Al Freeman, Jr.) and Carla, featuring a young Laurence Fishburne as Joshua.
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Carla, pictured in 1978, divorced Ed and wed Jack (Arthur Burghardt).
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In the 1980s, Carla became Llanview’s assistant district attorney and reconciled with Ed.
